Painting of The Arrival of Cornelis de Houtman in Banten in 1596

Image: Atlas van Stolk

The painting above depicts the atmosphere of Cornelis de Houtman's arrival in Banten in 1596. This was the first time the Dutch expedition team had reached the Nusantara archipelago. The painting itself was made circa 1904-1925.

The era of European exploration of the oceans was triggered by the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans. Constantinople was an important city connecting the European and Asian trade routes known as the Silk Road.

The fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans made European nations lose access to Asian trade commodities, especially spices which were expensive on the European market.

The changing political constellation with the fall of Constantinople forced European nations to find their own spices directly to its source, namely Asia. European kingdoms competed to finance expeditions to find Asia. Keep in mind, at that time the myth about the flat Earth was still dominant. So the ocean expedition was something quite brave and considered risky.

There are at least four European countries competing for Asia, namely Spain, Portugal, Britain and the Netherlands. And the arrival of Cornelis de Houtman in Banten in 1596 was the starting point of Dutch colonization in Indonesia, which the Dutch called the Dutch East Indies.